Former French national team Manager Gerard Houllier said that FIFA will reconsider a proposal "to allow a fourth substitution in extra-time for the next World Cup," according to REUTERS. Houllier, who has managed France and Liverpool, among others, "is the senior member of FIFA's technical study group (TSG) which analyses trends and tactics at the World Cup." He said that "he was in favour of a fourth substitute if it would help maintain the game's entertainment and intensity, a feature of this World Cup." FIFA proposed the idea to football's rules panel the Int'l Football Association Board two years ago, saying that "its introduction would limit the risk of injury in the later stages of knockout games or finals," but it failed to win the necessary 75% majority and was not passed into law (REUTERS, 7/3). The AP reported FIFA asked Houllier's group "to propose ideas" to IFAB. The panel has previously rejected the fourth sub plan, though Houllier suggested that "it could be revisited." Houllier: ''At this World Cup everything is going so quick, so fast, the tempo has been so high. As a technician we would like to have in extra time the possibility to have another substitution" (AP, 7/2).
